Sausage stuffing and molding device



Feb 1954 R. M. HGVLAND 2,559,749

SAUSAGE STUFFING AND MOLDING DEVICE Filed Jan. 11, 1951 INVENTOR.

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Patented Feb. 23, 1954 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAUSAGE STUFFING AND MOLDING DEVICE Roger M. Hovland, Colfax, Wis, assignor to Swift & Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 11, 1951, Serial No. 205,482

2 Claims. (01. 17-35) sausage mix into casings wherein the mix was handled and cooked. Such casings were only used once and discarded. Efforts have been made to modernize this practice, but, in general, they were no more than a change in casing material.

The present invention is directed to the use of a rigid or semi-rigid mold to replace the limp, flexible casing heretofore used. The principal object of the present invention is to provide such a mold which is simple to construct and use and which is easily disassembled to be readily cleaned.

A particular feature of the present invention is the structure of the co-operating mold and end gates therefor wherein the gates form feet to position the mold above a suitable supporting surface and allow the circulation of the cooking fluid completely about the mold. This insures the even heating of the mix within the mold and the elimination of overcooked or undercooked spots in the sausage. The mold is steadily balanced on the feet in such a position that it can be upset only by the most violent movements.

I have devised a novel horn which is readily adapted for use with a conventional sausage stuffer to quickly fill the mold of this invention with only a minimum of movementand effort on the part of an operator. The horn, pressurized by the staffer, co-operates with the mold to completely fill the mold with a minimum amount of leakage and waste.

Additional objects and advantages include the following:

. A mold which forms the sausage with square ends, thus, eliminating waste in the cutting of the sausage after it is removed from the mold; a mold which is readily formed by simple metal-working operations; a mold which is low in first cost; and a mold which requires substantially no maintenance.

Further objects and advantages will become ap parent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a gate for the mold of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken at line 3-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlar ed section taken at line l l of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation on a reduced scale, par- 2 tially broken away, of the mold being filled with a comminuted mix from a sausage stufl'er.

As seen in Figs. 1 and 3, the body of the mold is a tubular shell, generally I'll, preferably shaped in the form of a cylinder. Adjacent either end of shell H! are a pair of grooves H. Grooves II are substantially semi-circular and are so oriented that they lie in the same segmental portion of the cylinder in. Preferably, the grooves H are in parallel planes normal to the longitudinal axis of the shell i i. Co-planar with each of grooves H are slots l2, which slots occupy the remaining segmental portion of said cylinder.

A pair of gates l3 are used to close either end of the shell Ill. The structure of the gates I3 is best seen in Figs. 2 and 4. One end [4 of each of gates I3 is substantially the same configuration as grooves ll, being semi-circular in the cylindrical embodiment illustrated. Side edges it of gates I3 are tangent to the semi-circular end it. When inserted into the mold, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, the lower portion of gate it is engaged by slots l2 upon its being inserted into the cylinder while the upper end 14 is engaged in grooves II, which slots and grooves act as tracks for the gates.

The lower ends of gates 13 project substantially below the shell it], as seen in Figs. 1 and 4. This end of each of the gates is bent over to form feet H which position the mold above any suitable supporting surface.

The apparatus for filling the mold is illustrated in Fig. 5. The mold it is slipped over an abutment l9 attached to stufiing horn 2|! of a sausage stuffer 2|. Abutment I9 is of the same configuration as that of the inner wall of shell Ill and only slightly smaller in size than that of said inner wall. The difference in size is suiiicient to allow the shell to slide longitudinally over the abutment but suiliciently tight to prevent any substantial passage of sausage therebetween.

A gate i3 is inserted into the track therefor formed by slots !2 and grooves H, and the valve of the sausage staffer is opened to allow the sausage mix to enter the mold through the stuffhorn. As the mold fills up, the shell will slide outwardly over abutment 19, in due course uncovering the track in the other end of the shell 50. As it does so, the other gate I3 is inserted into said track, thereby trapping the sausage mix between the two end gates. Shell It may now be completely removed from horn 2!! and deposited upon a suitable surface supported on feet ll of gates IS.

The foregoing description of a specific embod1- ;ment is "for the purpose of complying with Section 4888 of the Revised Statutes and should not be construed as imposing unnecessary limitations upon the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Means for molding sausages comprising, in combination with a sausage stuffer having an elongated 'stuiling hornwith an abutment of=;substantial" breadth on-one end thereof, a tubular mold adapted to fit over and be supported by said abutment, gate means removably positionedv in said mold and adapted to close off each end thereof, at least one of said gate means being positioned a sufficient distance laterally within said mold as to leave, when iHfOIOSGdgDOSitiOII,

a sufficient portion of said mold still in contact with said abutment to provide supportifor gaid mold.

2. Means for molding sausages comprising,fin.

abutment, gate means removably positioned in said; gate means having feet extending externally of -said:mold whereby the mold 'may be positioned above a supporting surface on said feet.

ROGER M. HOVLAND.

"References-(33min the file of this patent '2UNITEDJS'I3ATES PATENTS -Number .Name Date 1,395,967 "Me'rli'et a1 Nov. 1, 1921 1,69:3;261 sweetland Nov. 2'7, 1928 1,925,157 Vogt Sept. 5, 1933 2,009,388 Elliott July 30, 1935 2,127,404 Gullich "1 Aug. 16, 1938 2,253,465 Tomlinson :Aug.'19-,'1941 12,311,843 Lee Feb. 23, 1943' 2,597,592 Minder MayBO/IBBZ 

